Electronic components such as integrated chips generally produce heat when operating. The heat is then transferred to an object to which the electronic component is attached and/or to the surrounding air. However, cooling solutions may be necessary for certain electronic components to maintain the operational temperature thereof below a critical temperature, which if reached, the electronic component may either not operate efficiently or fail due to heat damage.
Various known cooling solutions for such electronic components can be used. A common cooling solution is to attach a heat sink to a circuit substrate such that the heat sink is thermally coupled to the heat generating components of the circuit substrate. Accordingly, the heat sink may be either in direct contact with an outer surface of the heat generating component, or in indirect contact through an intermediate thermally conductive layer. The amount of heat conduction between the heat sink and the heat generating component may depend on the contact pressure between the heat sink and the heat generating component. To maintain the contact at a desired contact pressure, one or more spring clips are typically used to mount the heat sink to the circuit substrate such that the spring clip biases the heat sink toward the heat generating component with a desired force. The spring clip is typically mounted to the backside of the circuit substrate and coupled to the heat sink with pins or screws through corresponding apertures in the circuit substrate. Accordingly, the heat sink may not be fixedly attached to the circuit substrate, but only maintained on the circuit substrate by the biasing force of the spring clip.
In relatively small electronic devices or mobile electronic devices, such as mobile telephones, the space for accommodating one or more circuit substrates and the components mounted to the circuit substrate may be limited. For instance, a circuit assembly having one or more heat generating components, one or more thermal management devices to cool the heat generating components, and the above-described spring clip to maintain contact between the thermal management device and the heat generating components may have a collective height that exceeds the thickness requirements of the electronic device.
Therefore, there is a need for a thermal management device for use in relatively small or mobile electronic devices or in circumstances where saving space in an electronic device is necessary so as to maintain a thermal management apparatus in a desired contact with one or more heat generating components of a circuit substrate.